Illegal Israeli paramilitary colonizers chased a group of Palestinian shepherds, Saturday, in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank’s southern part, preventing them from reaching the natural grazing lands.
Activist Osama Makhamra stated that the colonizers pursued shepherds in Khirbet Jinba and forced their flocks away from the pastures.
Makhamra added that the colonizers also released their own herds around Palestinian homes in the eastern area of Shu’ab al-Batem, carrying out provocative acts aimed at intimidating residents.
Local sources said these actions are part of a deliberate pattern, with colonizers—backed by Israeli forces—harassing farmers and shepherds during the winter planting season to block them from cultivating their land and deny them access to grazing areas.
Such measures pose a serious threat to the livelihood of local families, who rely almost entirely on sheep herding as their main source of income.
Residents view these repeated assaults as an intentional attempt to ruin the agricultural season and weaken their resilience, while advancing the expansion of illegal colonial outposts in the occupied West Bank.
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All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
